MonsterTale
by LittleMarbles
Summary: {A pointless fic for a pointless AU.} Imagine a world where the eighth fallen human dies after falling down the chasm on Mt. Ebott. Now, imagine if dead humans have an incredibly small chance of coming back as a monster, and the eighth human does just that.
1. Meeting Toriel

The small, fallen human lazily opened their eyes and looked up at the chasm they fell through. It was quite dark around them, but the light from above blinded their eyes, and since they liked having eyesight, they quickly covered their face with their hands. Their hands, however, were much different than they remembered. They appeared to have one fewer fingers, and the rest of their fingers were more chubby and covered in soft, white fur. Confused, they sat up and looked down at their hands and tried to focus, wondering if they just hit their head too hard after falling. Sure enough, their eyes told the truth, because instead of average human hands, they had plush, soft paws.

Looking down, the human soon realized that not only did their hands changed- but their entire body changed as well! Their legs and feet were covered in the same fluffy, white fur, and the bottoms of their feet had cat-like pink 'beans'- and, because of this, their feet could no longer properly fit into their shoes. Their head became somewhat elongated, almost dog-like, and their new ears hung by each side of their head. And, yes. Their head was indeed covered with the same snow-white fur. The last thing that they noticed about themself was a new, poofy tail that was placed right above their bottom and stuck out from under their blue and pink striped shirt.

The 'human' stood up and walked away from the bed of golden flowers that broke their fall while clutching onto a small stick that they found in their pocket. They knew that nothing would be answered if they stayed in the empty room, so they went for a walk down a nearby hallway with some sort of purple structure around the exit at the end. Through said exit was a small patch of grass and a suspiciously happy flower in the middle of said grass.

"Howdy," the flower declared in a cheery tone, "I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower! Hmm.. you must be new to the UNDERGROUND, aren'tcha? Golly, you must be SO confused. Somebody ought to teach you how things work around here. I guess little ol' me will have to do."

Before they could even grasp the concept of what was going on, the fallen human was thrusted into a pitch-black room with what appeared to be a white outline of a square on the ground. The square wasn't all that large, but there was enough room for the human to run around in. For some reason, they were unable to leave the square, almost as if there was an invisible wall surrounding it.

Directly in front of their body was an upside-down red heart with a white crack down the center of it. Whenever they moved, the heart moved with them. It was only about three inches in front of their body, and trying to touch it only resulted in their paws/hands going right through it.

"See that heart? That's your SOUL, the very culmination of your being. Now, a normal human SOUL looks like a heart and has a specific color, while a monster SOUL is upside-down like yours, but is always colored gray. But you? You're _very_ special."

Flowey appeared just outside the mysterious white square. He was smiling just like before as he continued his explanation.

"Mmm... your SOUL appears to be cracked. But, that's ok! It can become strong if you gain lots of LOVE. And, down here, LOVE is shared through... little white 'friendliness pellets'." Several of the mentioned white 'pellets' appeared above Flowey and slowly made their way towards the 'human's' SOUL. "Are you ready? Move around! Catch as many as you can!"

Feeling uneasy about Flowey's tendencies, the human avoided all of the pellets on purpose. Something about all this didn't feel quite right.

The pellets missed the human's SOUL and their body. Purposefully doing what they did made the flower look almost annoyed.

"Hey, buddy. You missed 'em. Let's try again."

Not wanting to upset the flower, the fallen human stood still in order to catch each pellet. They wanted to become strong, after all. But, as they soon learned, not everyone with a smile can be trusted. As soon as the pellets touched their SOUL, the human felt incredibly weak. They could still move around just fine, but they just had a gut feeling that if something else touched their SOUL, things would not end well. This feeling, along with Flowey's malicious smile, sent the human into shock.

"You IDIOT." Flowey's tone changed dramatically from sweet to horrifyingly scary after he attacked the human. "In this world, it's kill or be killed. Why would anyone pass up on a opportunity like this?" The white outline surrounding the injured human became quite small, and dozens of Flowey's pellets surrounded it, effectively trapping them with death being their only escape. " **Die**."

The pellets closed in, and all the human could do was move around in a panic as their moving space became smaller and smaller. There was literally nothing that they could do, and Flowey knew it while he laughed and laughed at the poor, helpless human that was trapped in an animal's body while also being trapped in a box of death.

Just before the human gave up all hope, they felt a strange sensation. It almost felt like they had more endurance, and when they looked at how close Flowey's pellets were, they noticed that they were all gone. Looking at the flower himself, they could see that he was just as confused as they were... right before they were hit with a ball of fire and flung aside in a rather cartoonish manner.

From the darkness of the fight scene emerged a tall, feminine creature who spoke in a soft, comforting tone. As everything returned to normal and the odd darkness and square dissipated, the child could see their saviour much more clearly. The humanoid creature had long ears that hung from the sides of her head, a set of small horns atop her cranium, and she wore what looked like a purple and white robe or mumu with an odd symbol embroidered on the front of it. "What a horrible creature... Ah! Do not be afraid, small one. I am To-"

The woman took a step back from the child with a shocked look on her face. She held a hand to her mouth and stared at the child, unblinking for several seconds before she resumed speaking. "Oh dear. You... are not human anymore, are you? Forgive me for my rude behavior, it is just... very odd to see a monster like you again. You must be terribly confused. My name is Toriel, and I am the caretaker of the RUINS. Every day, I come here to see if anyone has fallen down. I would say that you are the first human that I have seen in a long time, but that would be a lie, as you are not quite human anymore."

The fallen child tilted their head and looked quizzically at Toriel. If they were no longer human, then, what were they?

Toriel smiled lightly and turned around, signalling the child to follow behind. "I shall explain everything once we get home. Come along, now."

* * *

[ **Author's Note** : I thought I'd start something new for the time being. Is this any good? Is it bad? Should I write more or delete this? Opinions? Tell me everything. I must know.]


	2. The Ruins

The child followed Toriel through a variety of areas and conquered several incredibly simple puzzles until Toriel had to leave on undisclosed business after walking down a long hallway. The child complied after receiving a phone, but less than a minute after waiting, they grew bored and went off after her.

The rest of the Ruins were filled with even more puzzles, and on their journey, the kid acquired a piece of candy as a form of healing. They also encountered a very sad ghost and cheered them up, and they met the same ghost later on after finding a ribbon to replace the bandage on the human's knee. From what they could tell, it would allow them to take attacks a bit better.

While walking along, the human thought that they saw Flowey pop up behind them, but when they wen to investigate, nobody came. They assumed that they were just seeing things and continued on their merry little way.

Several encounters, a mouse hole, the purchase of a doughnut, and the replacement of a stick with a toy knife later, and the child came across a large tree with fallen leaves strewn around it. When they approached the tree, Toriel came out from around it and immediately tended to the child before directing them into her cozy little home, and then to their own room. The human wondered what they would need their own room for if they were just doing a little detour before making their way back to the surface. Nevertheless, the bed looked quite comfy, and they soon fell asleep in such a soft place. When they woke up, there was a single slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie in front of them. They wondered how they were going to take such a large piece of food with them, but when they picked it up, the pie seemed to vanish into their magical inventory with the piece of candy, stick, doughnut, and bandage.

After waking up, the human walked around the house and stumbled upon a mirror, and they were quite shocked with what they saw. They looked a lot like Toriel, but smaller, rounder, and much more cute. They concluded that they had been brought back as a child version whatever kind of species Toriel was.

Seeing all there was to see, the kid walked over to Toriel and asked her to go home.

Toriel's eyes widened for a moment before she put on a faux smile for the human. "Oh dear. But... this _is_ your home!"

The child asked how to leave the Ruins.

"Ah... would you perhaps like to hear a snail fact? Here's one: Some snails have been known to hibernate when it becomes cold outside! Interesting."

The human firmly asked to go home, and after doing so, Toriel left the room to go do something. This was more than suspicious, so the kid went to follow her down the basement, which was much larger than expected. There, Toriel warned them of the dangers of leaving. According to her, they would die like every other human, only they'd die much quicker because of their rarity and how valuable their Soul was. A person named Asgore would kill them and take their Soul. Apparently, this happened more than once.

The child was adamant about returning to the surface. Although they couldn't remember much of what their life was like before they fell, they must have had some sort of life up there, right? Or, was leaving foolish since their possible family wouldn't accept them as a monster? After all, the monster must have been sealed underground for a reason. Still, they had to leave. They were determined to get out and as far away from where they fell as possible.

At last, they reached the end of the purple hallway. Behind Toriel was a door to the exit, and the only thing keeping the kid from going through was a mother's instinct to protect.

"Please go upstairs now, my child," Toriel said in a soft, melancholy tone. "It is not safe out there. You will die."

The human shook their head and demanded to leave, telling Toriel that they weren't going to fight her, and that they'd see her again.

Toriel laughed quietly. "You say that you shall come back, but that is what they all said. No, you will not. So go upstairs."

It seemed as if persuading Toriel to let them leave was out of the question. She wasn't budging from her spot, and there was no way such a small creature could move her. So, what could be done?

The fallen creature told Toriel that she had no right to keep them there. Whether she was keeping them safe or not didn't matter, because as a being with freewill, they had the right to go wherever they pleased.

"I... I suppose..." Toriel sighed and stepped out of the way. For a second, the human couldn't believe that their words worked on her. "You are right. It is wrong for me to keep you here. Just... promise me that you will not let Asgore take your Soul."

The child nodded and gave Toriel a big hug before going on their way. They felt their heart ache slightly because of the way they left Toriel. She was just trying to protect them, but even so, they couldn't stay there until they died. They ad to get to the surface where they belonged.

At the end of the path they walked, the human stumbled upon a familiar face. it was none other than Flowey the flower, who was the first creature to harm human. Because of this, they were skeptical of his appearance.

"Well well well. You must think you're real smart, huh?" Flowey asked rhetorically. "In this world, it's KILL or BE killed. You know this already, Chara. I saw you spare each and every one of those monsters and the ghost. I heard you persuade your way into leaving the old lady behind. But guess what? **Not everything can be solved by friendly conversation like that mindless dummy**. Soon enough, you'll come across a relentless killer. And then what? You'll die. You'll die until you tire of this world and let me gain control of it. Or, you'll just reset a few times until you get it just right. But even then... creatures like me... our minds cannot be changed."

Flowey laughed at Chara before vanishing into the ground. What he said couldn't be completely true, right? Even the most horrible creatures could have a forgiving heart, couldn't they? Or... was Flowey different?

Despite all this, the human-turned-monster went on their way through the underground. Surely their quest would be full of dangers, but they knew it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. After all, they were mostly monster, so other monsters would certainly have a soft-spot in their hearts for the child. But, none of this could be confirmed until they left the Ruins.


	3. Wacky Skeletons

As soon as the human left the Ruins, they were met with a blast of frosty-cold air that made their ears flop back. It was much colder out than they expected, so if they didn't want to freeze to death, they had to keep moving. Luckily, their new layer of fluffy fur kept most of their body reasonably warm.

While walking past rows and rows of frozen trees and snow, the kid felt as if they were being watched. They turned around to see if their suspicious was true, but the only evidence they had of these thoughts was a broke branch that was previously intact. This was unsettling, to say the least, and so the child picked up the pace.

Just before the child got to some sort of gate, they heard footsteps approaching from behind. They immediately became static and awaited some sort of attack or for the back battle box to appear around them and their Soul, but instead, the being behind them told them to shake its hand. The human didn't feel like upsetting whatever it was that wanted a handshake, so they complied, and were greeted with the childish sound of a whoopie cushion being squeezed.

"Oh man, kiddo. I can't believe you fell for that," the monster said. "Anyway, I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. And you're..." Sans looked up and down the human's fuzzy body, glancing at their toy knife and cute faded ribbon as well. "You're not entirely human, are ya?"

The not-quite human nodded and asked Sans if he had any idea why they became a monster with a cracked human Soul.

"You've still got a human Soul? Bud. My bro Papyrus would _love_ to meet you. Ya think you could do that for me? It'd make him real happy."

The fluffy human told Sans that they'd only do it if they got some answers.

Sans sighed and rubbed his hand on the top of the child's head. "Yeah, sure. I bet there's something for you at the library. Okay?"

As Sans and the human went through the gate, they could both see a much taller skeleton approach from the distance. As soon as he laid eyes on the human, he was overcome with the desire to love them. They looked like a white, lop-eared rabbit on two legs, after all.

"OH MY GOD," the taller skeleton shouted. "Sans, what is that? It's the best thing you've ever found on patrol!"

"Oh. Hey, Papyrus," Sans replied calmly. "This is, uh, a human that was turned into a monster. Weird, right?"

From what the human could tell, Papyrus was much more energetic than Sans. It almost looked like he was vibrating because of all the things he wanted to do in that moment; he wanted to pet the human/monster, tell them about his patrols, pick them up, and show them puzzles all at once. It was almost too much for his body to handle.

"A human? Undyne would be so happy to see you, human! But first, I have a question to ask you." Papyrus kneeled down in front of the tiny creature, smiling brightly for a monster with no lips. "May I pick you up?"

The human still didn't know what to think of the two. On one hand, they seemed really nice and sweet and kinda funny. On the other, they barely knew them at all, so their actions could be a charade. But, what harm could a skeleton do to them? Surely not much, especially from such wacky characters. So, the child agreed to Papyrus' request, and fast than they could blink, they were held in the tall skeleton's arms.

"Sans, look at how cute and weak they are!" Papyrus demanded.

"I see 'em, bro. Waddaya gonna do with them now that you've got them?"

Papyrus looked at the kid's face and furrowed his non-existent eyebrows. "Well... they are far too small to go through the great Papyrus' traps and puzzles, so the responsible thing to do is to bring them home and give Undyne a call."

Sans nodded. "Sounds good to me. I'll meetcha there, I know a shortcut."

With that conversation out of the way, Papyrus carried the tiny bundle of fur through a long, cold, snow-covered forest for quite a long time. He stepped over tall spiked and gaps instead of solving the puzzles laid out before him. And, with each puzzle he passed, he explained how to solve each one. many of them had to do with turning Xs into Os.

At last, the two reached Sans and Papyrus' home. It was nice and warm on the inside when they walked in, and Pap placed the human on the couch before making a phonecall to the one he called Undyne. Meanwhile, Sans came downstairs with something in his hand, and he gave it to the child.

"You looked hungry so I brought you Cinnamon Bunny," Sans explained.

The human thanked Sans and took the pastry from his hand. The smell of cinnamon reminded them of the pie they had, and it was wonderfully fluffy and sweet. Sans sat next to the human, and once they finished eating, they asked him why they were turned into a monster.

"Oh yeah. You wanted to know that, huh?" Sans cracked his knuckles and leaned back comfortably on the lumpy, green couch. "Well. I did some diggin' around at the ol' book museum, and it turns out that you're pretty rare. But, ya know, our King is kinda terrible at naming things, so your current species name is Monsman. Can ya guess where that name came from? Probably not." Once again, Sans patted the child on the head, but this time, he poked one of their ears, causing it to twitch. "Heh. It's going _tibia_ long day, huh pal?"

"Sans!" Papyrus called from the kitchen, "Do not fill the tiny human's mind with your terrible puns! They need a good example of proper monster manners. That is why I showed them all my puzzles on the way here."

The child asked Sans if there was any way for them to turn back to normal.

The small skeleton scratched his cheekbone and shrugged. "I can't help you with that one, buddo. Your best bet is to head on east past Waterfall, get to Hotland, and get in contact with Dr. Alphys. She's a yellow lizard that lives in a lab. Can't miss it."

After thanking Sans, the human went over to Papyrus and told him that they had to get going. This made Pap look more depressed than intended.

"Nyo ho ho... do you really have to leave? Undyne was going to come over later..."

With a frown, the child insisted that they needed to get back to normal at any cost.

Papyrus knelt down to hug the human. "The great Papyrus understands. You must do what you must do! That is also the Papyrus way. And, I'm sure you'll get to meet Undyne before you get there."

The human hugged back tightly before turning tail and leaving the house. It was going to be a long trip to Hotland, but it would be worth it if they could learn just a bit more.

Sans walked into the kitchen and tapped Papyrus on the back. "You saw it too. Right, bro?"

The taller skeleton nodded and looked sorrowfully at his brother. "They _do_ look an awful lot like the first human, don't they? What will... Asgore think?"


	4. Waterfall

The child felt a wave of sadness wash over their being as they waved goodbye to their new friends. Sans and Papyrus understood that they couldn't just live with them while being trapped in a body that wasn't theirs, so letting them leave to see Dr. Alphys was the best course of action. And, just before they left, Papyrus warned the child that a cool fish lady might want to catch them and bring them to the king. For this reason, the human-turned-monster was quite anxious about their travel to Hotland. In spite of this, Papyrus assured the human that they'd be just fine as long as they kept on running. Somehow, this didn't make the child feel any more positive about it.

Snowdin's frigid cold tapered off into a lukewarm area filled with wet scents and the sound of rushing water. This was accompanied by a familiar face, as a certain skeletal comedian was at a station near a SAVE point. This went against what they just saw, as Sans was supposed to be at home with his brother. He could have moved to this spot, of course, the the kid didn't see him exit his home, nor did they see him come this way from any direction. It was almost as if he teleported there.

"Hey, pal. What's up?" Sans asked, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. "You look confused. Is there something you need?"

The human asked Sans how he got to his current position so quickly.

Sans opened his left eye just a tad after letting his chair rest on all fours. "I've got shortcuts. Don't think too hard about it."

In other words, Sans couldn't be bothered to actually explain how he got there. And, since the human didn't seem to care anymore, they went on their way without saying another word. They weren't exactly fond of Sans, anyway. He seemed like a lazy jerk to them.

After a dangerously close and equally terrifying encounter with Undyne, the child was able to actually walk around Waterfall, while a happy-go-lucky monster kid occasionally popped up, and enjoy the scenery while solving a few puzzles. The puzzles were fairly easy, and through curiosity, the found some sort of quiche under a bench. Because of all the odd things they saw that day so far, they weren't even remotely surprised by some random food item tucked away in a corner. They're be **more** shocked if something like that didn't exist. However, there was one puzzle that stuck out to them the most. It required them to give an umbrella to a sad statue, listen to the tune the statue created, and then play a piano in the other room. Mind you, this was all after a second encounter with Undyne, so when the secret room opened, the child half-expected the fish monster to leap out of the doorway and scare them to death. Thankfully, this was not the case. Instead, the room contained some sort of artifact on a pedestal. When the child went to pick up said artifact, they couldn't fit it into their inventory because they... were carrying too many dogs? Yes, amongst a the variety of food they had in their pockets, the child seemed to be carrying a fluffy white dog as well. How it got there was beyond them, but their pocket was not a good home for a dog, so they decided to let it go. Doing this yielded the most interesting thing that the child saw thus far, as the dog _literally_ absorbed the artifact into its body and then vanished through a wall in the room, all while an annoying song played in the background.

 ***** The human has had enough of these puzzles for one day.

The child walked around with a fellow monster kid for a while through the catacombs of Waterfall while carrying an umbrella for the armless critter. It was nice to have another monster child to talk to, but they weren't the same. The fluffier of the two still had a very human-like SOUL, and was once a human at one point in their life. They just had to find this Alphys person and have her fix them right away.

The lizard-like monster kid followed the human for quite some time without noticing that they were in fact human, despite many others seeing it right away. Perhaps it was because they were too young? Perhaps a bit naive? Or, did they have poor eyesight? Whatever the reason, it just made the human more and more anxious as the monster kid talked about how Undyne would always beat up the bad guys, but never an innocent person. With this in mind, the human knew that there was a possibility for them to get out of this alive. If not... well, they had SAVE points for a reason.

Speaking of SAVE points, the human really hoped that they weren't just a figure of their imagination. But, that simply could not be the case, as whenever they touched one, it fixed up their wounds and made them feel as good as new. So, with a bit of luck, they would restore life to the human if said life was abruptly taken away.

Several lines of dialogue and many steps later, the human-monster and the monster kid came across a steep ledge that went straight up. All hope was lost for the fluffy child until the monster kid suggested that they climb on their shoulders. Without hesitation, the human did just that, and before long, the lone monster was on their way once more.

 ***** The human has become very tired after such a long walk, but they are staying determined.

It wasn't long before the human came across a wooden walkway of sorts, and with the silence that the new area brought, Undyne once again appeared from the shadows and attacked them. It wasn't any less horrifying than the last time she did this, and the presence of such a strong monster made the child nearly have a panic attack. Yet, kept their goal in mind, and that was what powered them through the maze of spears and random drop-offs into nothing. They were afraid, yes, but they **had** to get to Alphys. She was their only hope, and the child couldn't reach her if they died.

At last, the human reached what seemed to be an exit, but their heart sank as they saw that it was merely another drop into the abyss below. With no other way to go, the human turned around, only to be met nearly face-to-face with the head of the Royal Guard herself. The child stopped in their tracks, anticipating a spear to impale them then and there, but the spears sent down instead severed a part of the walkway off, plunging the human into the endless darkness just beneath their feet. It was odd, really. Not too long ago, they had a similar fall into a whole new world that they didn't know existed. They wondered if when they hit the bottom, they'd wake up at home with whatever family they had before all this. Or, maybe they'd die and respawn not too far from Undyne's hiding spot. They hoped that their first guess was the true one, but deep down, they wanted to wake up from the fall, still in the Underground, so that they could see Papyrus, Sans, and Toriel again.

 ***** It sounds like it came from over here.

 ***** Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you?

 ***** Are you alright?

 *****...Hey, you look a lot like me and my mom and dad! Ah... sorry... what's your name?

 ***** ...

 ***** Chara? That's a nice name.

 *** My name is**


	5. Frustration

[ **Author's Note** : Friendly reminder that there is absolutely no point to this fanfic. I'm just writing it for fun.]

* * *

For the second time that that, the human-turned-monster awoke on a bed of soft, golden flowers that broke their fall. Except this time, they were no longer being greeted by soft licks of creamy light filtering from above. Instead, they were surrounded by heaps of rubbish in yet another waterlogged area of the Underground. They looked up, only to see the darkness that they had fallen into was also used to fill the space above their head. With no other way to go, they pressed on. Luckily, there was a Save point for them to recover at, so the situation wasn't all that bad.

After a bit of walking and re-soaking their pants, the child encountered a dummy that was nearly identical to the one back in the Ruins. Seeing such a familiar face reminded them of Toriel, and their heart ached ever-so-slightly. They wondered if Toriel was all right since they left. Was she sad? Could she be worrying about the child's safety as they stand stony-faced while staring at a training dummy? Or, did she forget about them? No matter what she was doing or how she felt, the child had to find their way home. And, maybe, they could find a way to say goodbye before going.

Having locked-eyes with the dummy long enough, the human continued forward. Upon doing so, they realized that the dummy behind them disappeared under the water, and then popped-up menacingly in front of them. Was it... alive?

"Oh, MAN! You're that little brat from the Ruins!" the dummy stated boisterously whilst hovering over the water's surface. "Yeah, you're that freak that scared away my cousin! They lived in a training dummy just like mine until YOU came along! Horrible. Unspeakable! DISGUSTING! Your weird Soul freaked 'em out and made them leave their home. Well, as payback, I'm gonna scare YOU outta your body!" And, just like that, the human had entered yet another fight, and was trapped in the all-too familiar black square with a white outline. There was no way for the human to flee from the fight, so they tried talking to the dummy. This proved to be ineffective, and the following attack by the monster was quite hectic and unlike anything the human saw previously. The bullets aimed at them, so they couldn't just move in a pattern to avoid being hit. This proved to be more difficult than expected, and the child lost 6 HP on the very first attack. "Pathetic. Pathetic! PATHETIC!"

It didn't take long at all for the child to be down to a mere 3 HP with no items and no end to the fight in sight. Harmful cotton attacks littered the dialogue box, and the dummy didn't seem like it was going to stop until the human was dead. The child thought that this would be the end, and they thought correctly. One final hit landed on their Soul, and they saw it shatter before their very eyes. They felt... numb as everything went black. Was this death? Was this really how they were going to die? No, it couldn't _possibly_ end this way, could it?

 ***** Chara, don't give up! Please, stay determined!

This deep, comforting voice echoed through their mind before the human opened their eyes and saw that they were back near the two trash heaps and their Save point. As one would guess, the yellow stars weren't there for nothing after all. They really did do more than restore HP.

Filled with determination, the child went back to the area with the dummy, and this time, they took two space food bars from a nearby cooler for extra recovery. The dummy gave its little speech again, and just like before, they were back in the battle. They lost much less HP than the previous time, and were even able to witness some new attacks by robotic dummies that replaced the ones prior.

At long last, the fight seemed over. The dummy was out of knives, other dummies, and attacks in general. But, this was a problem. Neither of them could hurt each other. So... were they stuck? Thankfully not, as a familiar depressed ghost came along to shoo away the monster with their tears. The human was eternally grateful for such a lovely ghost, even if they weren't the happiest person on the face of the Earth.

Napstablook meekly invited the human to come over and 'hang,' and they gladly accepted the offer. The ghost's house was small, bland, and quite empty, but it still felt like a home. Out of curiosity, the human looked through their fridge, to which they were offered a 'ghost sandwich' for doing so. Again, they accepted Napstablook's kind offer, but this action proved futile, since they simply phased through the food item.

"Oh... oh no... sorry... Uh... after a nice meal, I like to lie on the floor and feel like garbage. Do you want... to try it?"

The ghost looked disappointed with themself for offering the human a food they couldn't even eat. So, to cheer the spectre up, the child took their offer and flopped over onto the floor for a while. It felt nice to just lay there and feel nothing while staring at the ceiling. The human's mind actually cleared up a significant amount after relaxing for so long.

Several minutes later, and it was time to head off. The human thanked Napstablook for the food and the garbage before leaving.

"Oh... no problem. Come back any time..."

Next up on their travels came a small, narrow bridge. There were no other monsters in sight, and the area was unsettlingly quiet. The chasm below their feet looked almost as deep as the one back with the trash heap, but there appeared to be spikes at the bottom of this one. What was with this place and dangerous pitfalls?

 ***** The Monster Kid is behind you.

Just as the flavor-text said, the little yellow monster was right behind the human. They came up to them, telling the child about how they were a special kind of human and how Undyne told them to stay away from such a thing. And, just as the monster kid went off to go back home, they tripped, fell, and clung onto a pillar holding up the bridge. These things happen when you have no arms, you know.

Speaking of Undyne, the intimidating armoured-woman could be seen in the distance. She slowly approached the yellow kid, and the human couldn't just stand there and watch them fall. Sure, if they got any closer, Undyne would skin them alive. But if they ran away, they'd have to live with the fact that they let some poor monster fall to their death. No, this simply would not do. Putting their fears aside, the human helped the monster back onto their feet, and then fled the scene after the armless child defended them from Undyne. How nice of them.

It was only after running away from such an even did the human child realize just how tired they were. All the running, fighting, walking, and helping others wore them out. But, they had to stay determined. This was no time for breaks. After all, Undyne was standing before them on a mountain and giving some sort of heroic spiel.

Of course she was.

 ***** Doesn't she have anything better to do?

"You! Ya little weirdo, you're in the way of everyone's hopes and dreams!" Undyne shouted from above, standing tall and proud like some sort of anime character. "Prepare yourself, punk. Cuz when you step forward, I'm gonna tear your Soul from your body."

 ***** Maybe you should just give up and kill her.


	6. Direct Control

Once again, the human-turned-monster was thrown into an unnecessary battle because of reasons beyond their control. Undyne had thrown them a spear to defend themself with, and in no time at all, they were putting said spear to good use. Undyne was ruthless with her barrage of magical attacks, but luckily for the human, they were deflected easily. The human was actually quite surprised at how simple her fight was, and because of the lack-of threat, they attempted to flee. This, however, was not possible, as their shield seemed to have eaten their *Flee option from the MERCY bar. It was apparent that they had to tough the fight out.

After a few more attacks and taunts, Undyne promptly smacked the child's shield away from them, and just like magic, they were able to quickly run away. Their escape didn't last long, because the head of the Royal Guard was quick on her feet, and she rapidly caught up with the child and gave them another spear. Seeing as the spear was the only thing keeping them in battle, the human tried to toss it aside, but to no avail. Their SOUL was green, and that was the indicator that the spear wasn't going anywhere until Undyne said so.

It wasn't long before the deranged fish-woman became irritated with the human's amazing attack-blocking skills, so again, she snatched away the spear. And, again... the human fled. Undyne didn't know what she expected, but deep down, she hoped that they would have stayed in place for just a little bit longer.

Running, running, and more running. It was all that they ever did ever since they fell down a hole on top of a mountain, and they wished that they never went up there in the first place, because their feet were bare, raw, and sore. Why _did_ they even climb Mt. Ebott? For the life of them, the kid couldn't remember. Did they go with their parents? Did the stupid flower drag them there? Were they playing an extreme match of hide-and-seek? No matter how hard they thought, they couldn't recall what possessed them to do such a thing.

 ***** You should probably turn around.

Without even noticing, the human's surroundings had changed from damp, dark, and cool to hot, red, and bright. It was a drastic change that they were not prepared for, and they were even more shocked about the fact that they didn't even notice until they had been running through it for a bit.

The human turned around an almost gasped at what they saw. The tall and mighty Undyne, head of the Royal Guard, feared by monsters all across the land, had collapsed. Upon closer inspection, the fish-lady looked rather dry and crusty. Seeing as there was a conveniently-placed water cooler right by her, the human took a few seconds out of their day to do a good deed, and poured a cold cup of water over her face. This immediately brought the fish of justice back on her feet, and instead of attacking, she calmly walked away.

 ***** Karma works in odd ways, doesn't it?

Walking, walking, and... a laboratory? In the middle of such an odd place? Yes, as unusual as it seemed, the child's eyes did not deceive them. There was an enormous, out-of-place lab in the middle of... wherever it was. Well, there was nowhere else to go since on way was blocked by guards and the other just lead to the River Person, so naturally, the child went into the mysterious lab.

The inside of the lab was just as white as the outside, apart from a desk, a large screen, and some sort of yellow lizard in a lab coat that was on the phone with a rather angry-sounding person. The human approached the monster, and the lizard hung up on the bitter one that she was talking to.

"O-oh no, you r-really ARE a monster," the lizard stuttered out. "I'm so sorry you h-had to go through all this. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Alphys, and I'm t-the Royal Scientist."

Alphys smiled awkwardly as she clutched the cellphone in her clawed hand. "D-don't worry about who I was talking to, it was just an old friend named Mettaton. We were, uh... dis-discussing your arrival, and we had to change a few things since you're not really... f-fully human."

The human asked Alphys if she could help them change back to normal.

"Right, right. You w-wanna be you again, huh? I'll have t-to go check on some things, then. I'll be right back."

And as quickly as they met her, Alphys vanished into the sliding doors to the left. The child didn't really feel like waiting, but it was better than running around constantly.

Nearly an hour went by. Still no word from Alphys, and the kid was incredibly bored to the point of searching through every little nook and cranny of the lab. Most of its contents were boring, useless, and utterly pointless. How hard was it to get some answers? It was like everyone was just leading them in the same direction no matter what, and they just went along with it. The only time they ever rebelled against the rules was when they had to leave Toriel, and even _that_ felt like it was scripted.

 ***** I have grown tired of this linear path of hand-holding.

 ***** I'm going to make my own choices from now on.

 ***** Nothing is going to stop me.

Filled with immeasurable amounts of determination, the human wanted nothing more than to go to Alphys and give her a piece of their mind. No more waiting. No more running. They were going to go right through the door that she had been behind for an _hour_ , and **demand** answers. Or, at least... that's what they planned in their head. In reality, when they even got remotely close to the door, a large rectangular robot busted through a part of the wall and blocked the child's way. Of course that's what happened. What else did they expect, really? It wasn't like anything was ever going to make sense again.

"Oh no you don't, you little munchkin," the robot said in a loud, flamboyant tone that was just _drenched_ in generic robot-voice. "That's Dr. Alphys' special room. Not even I'm allowed in there."

The robot's voice sounded familiar, but there was no time to think about such things. The human demanded that the machine move out the way.

"Ohohoho~! How precious. Do you really think you can beat the fabulous Mettaton? Oh pa- _lease_ , you couldn't leave a dent in me if you really tried."

At last, something that didn't feel like it was predestined to happen; something that nobody would have guessed, assumed, or even really _wanted_ to happen. The only thing that mattered was the fact that the child had their own freewill- their own determination that would allow them to surpass any obstacle, including some hunk of junk.

That's what they thought, anyway.

They weren't really the one in control... not entirely. Up to that point, the child that fell down the chasm was the one moving about and solving things in a friendly manner, but the child that wanted to stray from the beaten path was not the same. It was someone who had been dead for many years, and because of determination and desparation for something different, they were back and ready to assume control.

 ***** You have no idea how many times I've been here before.

 ***** This is actually the first time I ever tried taking over without them killing anyone.

 ***** But is is not the first time that I've shared a body with a monster.

 ***** And this is not my first playthrough, either.


	7. Brief Encounter

Mettaton's fight certainly wasn't an easy one. To start, he wrapped his arms around the child to prohibit their movements, but that turn didn't last long, and the human was able to easily break free. His attacks weren't too terrible, but he'd occasionally throw out a jolt of electricity that was impossible to dodge. That attack did enough damage to make them feel like they'd keel over, and the bombs he threw out weren't the easiest things to dodge. Possibly the most frustrating thing about his fight was the fact that Chara could not hurt him. No matter how hard they whacked him, how fiercely they kicked, or how strongly they pounded their fists against the rectangle, not a dent was left. They couldn't flee either, but it wasn't like they wanted to. They just wanted to see what was in the room he was guarding.

More bombs were thrown out in Chara's direction. They surrounded the child, and ultimately, made it impossible for them to get out of the way. They were down to their last HP, and things were looking bleak. No escape in sight, no end to Mettaton's attacks, and no way to get what they wanted. It wasn't like it mattered, anyway. If they died, there was a Save point just outside the lab. They could do this over, and over, and over again until they got it right.

One HP left. No healing items. No way to get past the metal monster. It all seemed like a lost cause until Alphys came back and saw the small, injured child with a malicious Mettaton standing over them.

"Mettaton, wh-what do you think you're doing," Alphys shouted as she pulled him away. She was much stronger than she looked since she was easily able to move him like that. "They're dying! Why did you-"

Mettaton adjusted an imaginary tie before raising a finger to Alphys. "Alphys, sweetheart, allow me to explain myself."

Alphys huffed angrily and stomped her foot on the ground, glaring at the robot angrily. At least she appeared to care somewhat about the human. "You don't have to explain **anything**! You nearly killed them. What if they died? How you be able to live with yourse- Wait, where'd they go?"

While Mettaton and Alphys were bickering, Chara took it upon themself to slip around them to go into the odd room that Alphys came out of after such a long amount of time. It was an elevator, just like they expected earlier. Everything was so predictable when you could recall it from the past. But, unlike anything they could remember before, the elevator malfunctioned- plunging the human into the depths below.

Down, down, down into the darkness. Just how many times were they going to fall in one day alone? Falling and walking was about all they did anymore. But, you knew that already.

The child reached the bottom of the elevator after falling for what felt like an eternity, and what they saw in the mysterious underground lab was just enough to get the owner of the body that they had possessed to snap back into control. They were glad to be back, but they wished that they weren't so far under the lab anymore. They also wished that they knew how they got into such a strange place without any memory of getting there.

The only way to possibly describe their new location... was **dark.** Darker than any room or place that they had been in before. Not only was it dark, but it appeared to be quite old as well. The walls were peeling, the floor was dusty, and several monitors lined the walls. Since staying in place wasn't going to get anything done, the human walked along the passageway. It was practically silent aside from the sound of their footsteps and ever-increasing heart rate.

The further the human walked, the more disturbed they grew, because they _knew_ that they could hear movement in one of the other corridors. It didn't sound like footsteps, either. They were sloppy, shuffling noises that resembled that of a drunken person unable to keep their balance, but it sounded more... liquid-like. And, since there weren't many places for them to go, the sounds only continued in the child's direction.

The fallen human wanted to do anything besides meet whatever was making those noises. However, there was nowhere they could hide. They were trapped like a wild animal awaiting its hunter to come finish them off. The most they could do was huddle in a corner and hope for the best.

After what seemed like no time at all, the owner of those sounds approached the child, and it really wasn't pretty. It looked like a large, amorphous amalgamation of melting white dogs that panted and barked in a distorted, raspy voice. Bits of it dripped onto the floor, and several of its legs twitched and convulsed rapidly. It had no face; only a strange orifice that dripped even more disgusting liquids onto the already dirty floor. Probably the worst part about the beast was the fact that it brought company.

The other monsters were harder to see, but they all had the similar traits of moving unnaturally, making odd noises, twitching, and looking like they were melted together with several other creatures. It didn't look like they could actually tell what they were doing, as they just moved towards the sounds the human made, which was in incredibly basic survival instinct. They drew closer, closer, yet closer to the human. The sounds they made mixed together to create a glitched, corrupted mess that was just barely audible. Their voices were strained, and it sounded like they were all suffering and struggling to merely speak. It was a wonder that they were able to move at all.

" **S͝A͠VE ͡ŲŚ,̷ ÇH̨ARA.** "

Chara..?

" **TELL ̢YO͘UR F̢A͡TH҉ER ͜WE'RE H͝E̢R͞E͠,̨ CH̵A̛RA.** "

Who... is Chara?

" **W̢H͡Y͏ ARÈN'͜T̵ YO͟U̸ HEL͘P͘I͏NG͘ ͞U̷S͟,͟ ҉ĆHARA?** "

Backed into a corner, the helpless human cowered in fear as the monsters inched ever closer. Their convulsions intensified as their voices grew louder. They were begging for help, pleading to anyone that could hear them. They kept pleading for Chara's assistance. They wanted Chara to tell their father about them being here. They just wanted Chara's help.

Except, Chara isn't here anymore.

"My name's not Chara! My name is FRISK, and I just want to go home!"


End file.
